BBurago – It’s a die-cast metal brand making toy cars founded in 1974 which had its origin in Burago Di Molgora (Italy) before it was taken over by May Cheong (Maisto) in 2007. Till then all the Bburago cars were made in Italy, but now the production has been shifted to Thailand & China.
Originally the company name was Martoys (1974 – 1976) after which it was renamed to BBurago (The name was after the place of origin (Burago-Italy) adding another B for Besana Family-The owners)
After the takeover in 2007 May Cheong decided that they will make most of the European scale models under the brand name of BBurago and other Global models under the name of Maisto to avoid internal competition.
BBurago is into manufacturing of licensed die-cast scale model replicas of automobiles, aircrafts, motorcycles, track/play sets etc. in scales starting from 1:64 to 1:12 depending on the models.
Information Source: Bburago website & Wikipedia
Website: http://www.bburago.com
Maisto – Its again a licensed die-cast scale model manufacturer of automobiles, aircrafts & motorcycles founded in 1967 with the same parent company as BBurago.
Maisto has its headquarters in California, although the company is based in Hong Kong, and their products are made in Thailand & China. Maisto also makes replicas starting from 1:64 and goes on till 1:12 depending on the models.
Maisto is one of the leading manufacturers of licensed diecast scale models but collectors wanting finer crafting in the scale models can go for more premium brands like Norev, GT Spirit, Autoart, CMC, etc but they are quite expensive as compared to Maisto/BBurago.
Information Source: Maisto website & Wikipedia
Website: http://www.maisto.com
Motormax – Founded in 1997, it’s a die-cast scale model Chinese manufacturer who makes detailed officially licensed die-cast & plastic replicas and model kits of various vehicles. They have their headquarters in Hong Kong and their products are made in China. Their product range includes automobiles, aircrafts, helicopters, ships & motorcycles in scales from 1:12 to 1:64 depending on the models.
Information Source: Motormax website
Website: https://www.motormaxtoy.com
Welly – Founded in1980, it’s a licensed die-cast scale model manufacturer based in Hong Kong and they also have their manufacturing facilities in China. They have around 30 years of manufacturing in die-cast model making. They make scale model replicas of automobiles, aircraft, motorcycles ranging from Scales 1:18 to 1:64 depending on the various models. Welly is quite famous in the die-cast model industry for its fine crafted replicas that are mostly true to scale and close to real.
Information Source: Welly die-cast website
Website: http://www.wellydiecast.com
New Ray – Founded in1987, it specializes in design and manufacturing of licensed die-cast scale model replicas of automobiles, aircrafts, motorcycle along with space kits & playsets ranging from Scales 1:18 to 1:64 depending on the various models. It has its headquarters in Hong Kong and manufacturing facility in China. Die-cast scale models are it’s one of the best highlights of their extensive Product range having around 200 licenses and more on the way.
Information Source: New-Ray website
Website: https://www.newrayusa.com
Road Signature – A brand owned by Lucky Die Cast Products Factory Limited (LDC). It’s one of the professional manufacturers in Hong Kong specializing in collectible hobby toys having more than 30 years of manufacturing experience. They have divided their product range under 2 brands:
Road Signature & Road Tough
Road Signature offers detailed modern, vintage & a classic range of cars, trucks and fire trucks model replicas along with accessories like vintage gas pumps ranging from Scales 1:18 to 1:64 depending on the models. Road Tough offers other products like toy vehicles, trucks, airplanes & play Sets for school children.
Information Source: Lucky Die cast website
Website: http://www.luckydiecast.com
RMZ City – A brand owned by Uni Fortune established in 1996. Again, this is a Hong Kong based company having its manufacturing facility in China. They are into the manufacturing of a wide variety of smaller-scale licensed die-cast cars & trucks ranging from scales 1:32 to 1:64. They are popular for making 1:64 scale truck scale models of MAN having containers attached to their rear chassis with additional licensing of DHL, Castrol, BP, etc. They are also popular for making DTM Race Series scale models in 1:32 & 1:43 scale although these have not been imported in India yet.
Information Source: Uni Fortune Website
Website: www.uni-fortune.com
Kinsmart – A brand owned by Kintoy was founded in 1992 with an aim to create die-cast toys for children as toys and adults as collectibles. They also have divided their product range into 2 brands
Kinsmart & Kinsfun.
Kinsmart offers licensed die-cast replicas in scales ranging from 1:32 to They to have licenses from over 30 car manufacturers and have about 200 Models in their product range. They are very popular amongst collectors for their latest models in 1:32, 1:34 & 1:32 scales (approximate scale).
Information Source: Kinsmart Website
Website: https://www.kinsmart.com